CAREER EFFORTS FROM HOLCOMB AND GREEN LEAD HIGHLANDERS TO 13TH WIN

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RADFORD, Va. - Radford recorded its 13th win of the season Saturday with a 93-76 win over Longwood at the Dedmon Center. The victory, spurred by Brandon Holcomb's career-high 14 points and Javonte Green's career-best 19 rebounds, matches the team's win total from a year ago and keeps the Highlanders tied for first place in the Big South North Division.

The Highlanders stormed out of the gate in response to Wednesday's home loss to VMI. RU scored the game's first six points and led 30-11 nine minutes into the game. Ya Ya Anderson scored 10 of his team-high 19 points in the first half to help lead Radford to its big lead early.

It was Holcomb as well who set the pace early in the game. He scored nine of his 14 in the first 13 mintues of the game and finished 8-8 from the free throw line. He topped his previous career best of 10 points vs. Santa Clara and tied his career high with three blocks in this effort over the Lancers.

Despite the 19-point deficit, Longwood answered with a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 30-20 and hung in the game the rest of the half. Radford's lead dwindled to just five, 43-38, by intermission, and four minutes into the second half, the lead was a single bucket at 51-49. That would be as close as the Lancers would get.

"In a sense, losing that lead was good because our guys never panicked," Radford head coach Mike Jones said. "We've done that in the past, particularly last year. A team would make a run at us, and we would cave. This year we are showing a lot more resiliency."

R.J. Price, who finished with 13 points on the night, answered with a 10-foot jumper in the paint, jumpstarting a quick 5-0 run that pushed the lead back to a more comfortable margin. The Lancers had one more run in them as the duo of Tristan Carey and Lucas Woodhouse would not allow Longwood to go down without a fight.

Carey's deep three-point basket off one of Woodhouse's game-high 12 assists cut the Radford margin back to four, 67-63, with 9:31 remaining. But Anderson answered with his own three-point dagger on the ensuing offensive possession for the Highlanders. Carey finished with a game-high 27 points, and Woodhouse added 17 points to record a double-double.

Anderson's basket led to an 8-0 run by the hosts, capped by Price's three-pointer, to finally put the Lancers away. The lead was never under double digits again as the Highlanders moved to 8-1 at home on the season.

"We were able to answer on the offensive end because we stuck to the game plan," Jones said. "We got to the line and hit free throws to keep our momentum."

Radford dominated the glass. Green's 19 rebounds bettered his previous career best by three, and he quietly added 17 points to notch his 19th career double-double. The Highlanders outrebounded Longwood 48-32.

For the second-straight game, the Highlanders were astounding from the charity stripe hitting 25-28. In two games, RU is 49-54 at the line.

Kyle Noreen added 10 points to record back-to-back double-digit scoring nights for the first time in his Radford career.

Radford (13-6, 3-1) travels to Campbell on Wednesday, January 22 for a divisional first-place showdown with the Camels. Tip is set for 7:00 p.m. in Buies Creek, N.C.

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